Agriculture Minister: 1,500 persons to Benefit from Land Regularization

Agriculture Minister: 1,500 persons to Benefit from Land Regularization

Approximately 1500 families are expected to benefit when the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries engages in a regularization exercise in the distribution of leases for the regularization of land in Rio- Claro, Mission Lands or Jones Town and in the Dundonald Hill, Long Circular, St. James Communities over the course of the week, so said Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Senator the Honorable Clarence Rambharat.

The Minister was speaking at a Lease Letter Distribution Ceremony at the MALF Head Office in Chaguanas earlier today. Lease Letters were distributed to four (4) recipients, three (3) agricultural and one (1) residential. This was the second lease letter distribution ceremony hosted by the Ministry in the last week.

On the topic of affordability for residential property, Minister Rambharat said the Government had addressed the issue and have implemented several measures which will allow property owners a greater amount of flexibility. These include:

1. The Aided Self-Help Housing Programme – where persons who qualify can access some 4,000 lots at 30% of the market value.
2. Restructuring the pricing of Land in the Land Settlement Agency (LSA) Programme for squatter regularization, and in so doing, making the land more affordable.
3. A review of the structure of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) in relation to the pricing of land that goes with the housing, making homes those more affordable.
4. Affordability in the renewal of leases, where persons who would have occupied residential land for a prolonged period and are currently renewing or for those individuals who have obtained legal occupation of the property by virtue of a deceased relative. These persons will now benefit from a 30% pricing formulae where they will be given to opportunity to pay outright for the land or pay an annual rental of 3.5%.

Minister Rambharat added, that the lease letter distribution was an important exercise as it gives persons the opportunity to see the progress being made by the Ministry, and also it gives persons who are awaiting on leases to come forward so that their matters can be addressed.

Persons receiving lease letters today were, Mr. Ramdat Ramdial, Ms. Tricia Helen Brown-Williams and Mr. Shameel Ali while Merle Danclar received a residential lease.

 

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